REPORTER: OKECHUKWU EZEONA
Four persons have been rescued while one person is feared dead following the collapse of anp uncompleted four – storey hotel building at Independence Layout in Enugu.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday, with emergency responders immediately mobilising to the scene.
The rescued victims were taken to hospital for treatment, while rescue operations continued to determine whether anyone else was trapped under the rubble.
The Executive Chairman of the Enugu Capital Territory Development Agency, ECTDA, Mr. Uche Anya, said that the building was among properties found to have violated approved building regulations. .
Mr. Anya explained that although the property was approved in 2021, subsequent inspections by the agency revealed serious structural integrity concerns and non-compliance with the approval, prompting the government to issue a stop-work order and sealed the site about six months ago.
The ECTDA Chairman said that the agency had, in the past one month been engaging the representative of the owner of the property who reportedly resides abroad, on measures to address the identified violations.
He stated that the owner’s representative had been handed over to the police to assist investigations into the collapse.
Also speaking, the Director of the Enugu State Fire Service, Mr. Okwudiri Oha, said that the rescue operation involved the Fire Service, Red Cross, SEMA, ECTDA, Enugu State Ambulance Services, NEMA, Police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps. He said that the security guard at the site indicated that six persons were supposed to be there, but one had left before the collapse. Four persons were initially rescued, while a fifth person was later recovered from the rubble and taken to a health facility to ascertain his condition.
The NEMA Information Officer in Enugu, Mr Ezeani Nnanyelugo, confirmed that four survivors had been stabilised in hospital, while one body had been recovered.
The Executive Secretary of SEMA, Mrs. Chinasa Mbah, however, said rescue workers would continue excavating the entire wreckage with bulldozers and excavators to ensure that no survivor or body was left behind.
